Even today, when Submariners are submerged, on ‘Radio Silence’ and out of touch for 60-90 days at a time, the dreaded “Overdue and Presumed Lost’ notification lurks in the background of the minds of their loved ones. It’s not discussed nor dwelt upon... but it’s always there.

We lost Thresher in 1963... sudden, tragic... but soon known to all.

Then...

Overdue and Presumed Lost

Sometimes not knowing is the hardest part...

...it came forward from the back of many minds again that fateful day in 1968, as loved ones of the 99 men in USS Scorpion SSN-589, waited on the pier at Norfolk, Virginia, for Scorpion’s anticipated return to her home port after a long deployment. And they waited... and waited. It would be some time before they, and the Navy, found out that Scorpion rested on the Atlantic sea bed in 9800 feet of water. Exact cause unknown.